Piece of Advice
by Rethy
Summary: Having one final problem to deal with before his departure, and Alphonse having already left for Xing, Edward asks Roy for help. One-shot set during the final episode of Brotherhood. Rated T for mild language. Parental!RoyxEd & EdWin.


The final Sunday before his departure to Resembool arrived, and Edward's aura was filled with anxiety. He would leave Central in the afternoon of the following day, could Roy really manage to find a solution to his problem in less than 48 hours when he couldn't decide if he even wanted to tackle the problem now?

Roy, despite Hawkeye's claims to take a "break" and help Ed, had postponed the meeting Ed had requested as if it wasn't much, when for Ed, it could be a life-changing event.

If someone had told him five years ago that he'd end up only worrying about whether he should ask Winry to marry him or not with all that's currently going on in his life, his old self wouldn't have even laughed at it even if he thought it was a bad joke... though he would've probably been very embarrassed, as well.

Yet, in the end, he had achieved his goal, and now that was the only thing on his mind. That, and the mystery of why Roy was the first person he settled on asking advice. It would have made more sense to ask Gracia, who had been married to Hughes. But there was such a feeling of familiarity with the soldiers of that particular office that he ended up more at ease by asking him instead of Gracia.

Going by that train of thoughts he could've asked Hawkeye who seemed to be friends with Winry, but he wasn't sure how to bring up such a subject with the opposite sex.

Thinking about it, he most likely would never openly admit it, but he had come to trust Roy and his team like the family after the breakdown of his own. Ed had to stop a smile from crawling its way on his face as he realised this.

He was currently in the middle of a park, watching carefree children run by with their parents slowly walking after them. This was the meet-up place he and Roy had agreed on, after quite a lot of arguments between the two.

Lost in his thoughts, he hadn't noticed an older man approaching and gently calling out to him. But when the voice suddenly turned into a loud, military call, Ed almost jumped off the bench from shock.

"Fullmetal!"

"Gah! Don't scare me like that, you jerkass!"

Roy sighed, clearly annoyed with how this day was starting, yet amused as he had hardly spent time with Ed since he left the military.

"You're the one who wasn't paying attention to your surroundings. In a battlefield, that'd mean instant death."

"..My situation doesn't exactly relate to a battlefield, but if you say so." Ed muttered under his breath.

Taking an overly dramatic voice, Roy said. "And to think I went out of my way to help you with whatever you need."

"Out of your way? You're just doing this so that Hawkeye won't bother you with military work at all today! That's why you refused the break she originally suggested in the first place!"

"And, like I said, that is equivalent exchange." Roy wiggled his finger, prompting Ed to understand and hopefully agree. Hadn't this kid once been the greatest fan of equivalent exchange? "I help you get rid of whatever happens to be troubling you, you help me get an entire day's worth of break from paperwork, instead of just merely an hour or two. And, considering the paperwork will always be waiting for me, this works better in your favour than it does in mine."

"So, what did you need? Advice on how to deal with the dwarfism that will hinder your adult life? Ways to fake a taller height?"

Scowling, Ed rose from his seat on the bench and start aimlessly strolling, Roy following behind him, confused and slightly worried at Edward's lack of rants to his short jabs. Now that Roy was here, and most definitely in Bastard mode, Ed had doubts on whether he should really come out with it.

"...Hey, Mustang." But he did and started with a sigh, forcing himself to breathe as he forced his question out. "What would you do, if there was someone you wanted to propose to?"

"Speak sweet words, ask her hand, and possibly sleep with her if the opportunity arises." The glare Ed sent at Roy actually made him consider properly, so he coughed and answered more seriously. "I've never thought about it, but people go about doing things differently. And people react to those things differently. Is this related to the help you needed? Miss Rockbell, perhaps?"

After a few seconds, Ed hesitantly nodded with cheeks red like tomatoes. Having already told Roy and the others about his departure, Ed found himself thankful that Roy was sharper than he looked.

"I don't know if I should propose before leaving."

"I'm surprised you'd consider marriage at your age... But you know, you can't guarantee that what I'd do, and how the person would react, would give the same results with you and Miss Rockbell."

"I know. It's just..."

"Uncertain about marriage itself, let alone asking her to marry you?"

Silently, Edward nodded, noting that Roy was quite sharp indeed.

_Poor kid_, Roy thought,_ if he isn't worried about saving Amestris, then he's worried about something as important as marriage at his age. Does he even understand the meaning of taking breaks?_

"How are your eyes?" said Ed, noticing that Roy sometimes stopped to focus before resuming his walk.

"They're fine. It's just blurry sometimes and I can have problems reading for extended periods of time, not that it stops Hawkeye and her avalanche of paperwork, though. Some think that, by now, I'd have fully recovered my sight, but health isn't that simple. What about your arm?"

"Feels like it never left. It's light, too, compared to the automail I had." Remembering the first automail he ever had, though, Ed laughed out loud. "The weight comparison between my first automail and my actual arm are incredible, though. Winry sure did a good job making it lighter each time I had to replace it."

At the mention of her name, silence returned for a few minutes and Edward stopped dead in his tracks. This whole situation was just destroying whatever genius mind he ever had. Noticing this, Roy stopped as well when he reached Edward's side.

"While I won't tell you that men need to find a woman and settle rapidly..."

Roy started but was soon interrupted by Ed. And what he said left notable veins of anger on his temples, disturbing his otherwise baby-face.

"You especially can't because that'd be quite hypocritical coming from the old man."

"...I will tell you that you don't need to rush things, and no one will blame you if you decide to postpone this talk with her."

Edward, for a second, seemed to seriously consider. However, while Roy was here, he figured he'd make sure to have a plan even if he did propose to Winry.

"But what do people do, normally? When they propose to someone?" The way Roy was looking at him and analysing him when he asked this didn't help his face get out of tomato mode, and it was all the accidental bait needed to rile him up this time.

"Stop looking at me like that! My parents weren't married and I was focused on finding the Philosopher's Stone all these years, not finding myself a girlfriend to marry!"

Raising his hands as if to appease an enraged animal and show that he wasn't planning on attacking it, Roy, understanding that Ed might want reference material, actually thought about it. What did people actually do when proposing?

"There is the classic "get down on one knee and offer the ring while saying you like the other person and want to marry them"..." But was that really all there was to it? Roy was an expert in women, not marriage.

"I guess looking at rings would be a good idea, for starters."

Surprisingly enough, Ed didn't find anything, logical or not, to argue that suggestion and thus followed Roy in search of a jewellery store.

When they finally reached one, though he had never really been disturbed by the military, the rich atmosphere in this jewellery store had a country-side person like Ed uneasy while Roy was casually strolling around as if he was doing casual groceries. In every direction you could turn your head towards, there were women drooling over rings with diamonds, or men confused, in situations similar to Ed's, at what they should get for their girlfriends, or other important female figure.

At Rush Valley, Ed had finally understood that Winry was abnormal. Normal women would glance at silver and gold, begging their fathers, brothers or boyfriends to buy them what they wanted... And then, you had Winry, drooling over wrenches and other tools that would probably be used in the Edward Skull Deformation Project.

Would Winry really like something like this? He wouldn't be surprised if Winry was rejoiced at the sight of automail tools instead of a ring as a wedding gift.

"Fullmetal." Roy called out after at least ten minutes of observing Edward staring around like an idiot. "Found anything she might like?"

Ed shook his head, though Roy had only asked to spark a discussion. It was written all over his face that he had no idea what wedding rings were even supposed to look like.

As such, Roy gestured for him to follow as he took his 'strolls' through the shop until he stopped in front of a set of rings. Without even looking at the price tag, Ed would've yelled that they're expensive as hell, but he knew better than to do that in the middle of such a classy place. Though, the idea of doing it solely to bother Roy was there, he just wasn't doing it because Roy was currently helping him and it would be insanely ungrateful to act like that.

Shaking his head again, Ed spoke up.

"I... don't think anything here would suit her. It's not like it's because of the price, or she isn't worth it, just... Doesn't feel right."

Roy nodded, and they headed for the exit of the store, unexpectedly understanding of Ed's troubles even though he had never considered burdening himself with such things As they marched and arrived towards their next destination, Roy asked. "Flowers, perhaps?"

"Flowers?"

"I'm quite certain you have seen flowers in your life, Fullmetal. They are quite popular with the ladies, if not a ring, then perhaps a bouquet would help you get your point across with her?"

In front of them was a small flower shop, with as a clerk a lady radiating with youth.

While Roy's idea might have started with good intentions, the only part of the conversation that was currently being held Ed even bothered to understand was the beginning, when Roy asked for ideal flowers for a proposal. Not only did he not know a single thing about flowers, but in a matter of seconds the bastard seemed to have decided it was time to acquire a new date.

Roy had, rather easily, seduced the young lady into giving him her phone number and was now casually chatting with her. Edward? He was pissed and glaring at the black of the older man with an almost irresistible urge to kick him with his left leg. Right now.

"Oi." Edward called out once to the laughing Roy, he didn't answer.

"Mustang." Twice, he could see that this time from Roy's slight movement of head that Roy had heard yet decided against answering him.

"I'll tell Hawkeye." Third time's the charm. Roy turned around immediately, a look of disbelief on his face. As Edward left this shop as well, Roy bid a quick farewell to the young lady and ran after Edward.

"Why do you think I fear Hawkeye, for you to threaten me in such ways?" Despite asking that, he felt like his dignity had taken a blow by the fact that Edward was openly aware that Riza Hawkeye's wrath was one of the rare fears Roy Mustang had.

"Your last reaction. Also, they do say that while the cat's away, the mice come out to play."

"...Were you the type of child to tell the teacher about every little thing going on?"

"Nope. I just grew around a certain person who is quite calculative and manipulative, like, when that person decided to send me in Youswell before his transfer to East City, most likely aware that I'd end up interfering with the corrupted military officers stationed there. And all that just to make his life in East City easier. On my first official military assignment, too.." Ed stopped to take a breath, and then turned around with a smirk. "When you're around those kind of people, you quickly learn that things that can be strategically used should be."

Roy was dumbfounded, and somewhat scared. Edward had been well-known for being a trouble magnet and causing catastrophes due to his recklessness, but God knows what'd happen if he started _mixing strategics and recklessness_... Thank Goodness he wasn't in the military anymore, to make anyone else other than God know.

"I'm guessing flowers are a no, then."

"Maybe they would've been a yes if you weren't such a jackass. But I can't bring those on the train anyway. I don't plan on returning to Resembool and harass Winry with a proposal immediately after I step out of the train."

They continued to walk around for a while as Roy recited what people usually did to propose and then to organise weddings until evening arrived. Edward, despite the hope that reference material would help his own situation, still had found no answer to the tons of questions in his mind. Perhaps he really should've asked Gracia...

"It's pretty late, weren't you planning on spending the day just avoiding any kind of work?" The older man shrugged, as he didn't really consider the day wasted since he had spent most of it outside the office suffering with paperwork overload

"Fullmetal," Roy started as they reached a car he unlocked, and Edward invited himself in next to the driver's seat. "Did that help?."

"Yes and no..."

"I figured it wouldn't help your particular situation, but at least, it's interesting knowledge on the matter, is it not?"

Edward nodded, though he would've asked why Roy had even bothered dragging him around all day in that case, since it was probably boring for Roy who had no interest in marriage, if he wasn't the one who wondered and questioned how people went about it in the first place. So, he decided to keep quiet, which made the ride unusually silent for the two of them that hardly went a day without arguing.

"Do you have your luggage ready for tomorrow?" Roy asked as they arrived towards Ed's hotel and stopped. Ed just nodded as he started leaving the car, causing Roy to sigh.

"Ed," He froze and turned around, Roy rarely ever called him by his name, even after he left the military... "I suggest that before considering a way of proposing to her that will please her, you might want to sleep on whether the responsibility of a wife and family will please you, first."

The fact that he wasn't replying prompted Roy to continue.

"While I am not knowledgeable about this, I don't think marriage is something that'll work out if you don't sort out and ascertain your own feelings before the ones of the person you like."

"Miss Rockbell is your childhood friend, she won't run off while you take your time deciding." Roy paused, and let out a small laugh at the sight of the obviously confused Ed, a rare sight for the boy who always rushed forwards. "See you later."

Ed frowned at this, as he looked at the car of his past commanding officer fading off in the distance.

"..Think about whether it will please me first, huh..."

* * *

><p>The next day, sitting down on his train seat, Edward sighed. He hadn't seen Roy at all this morning despite the fact that he had claimed his issues would be completely solved in less than twenty-four hours when he originally asked him a few days ago. To be fair, Roy probably hadn't expected something big like a proposal.<p>

But at least, the bare advice Roy had given him had served its purpose, and Ed was now certain that it was something he wanted. Though it still left the question of how to go about it, should he just catch the next train and run to buy a ring with the unused money on his account from his years as a State Alchemist?

This time neither had Ed noticed the older man approaching. It was fairly unnerving to see Ed so focused that he wouldn't pay attention to his surroundings, when it was something he usually only did when researching alchemy.

"Fullmetal!" There it was, the loud military call, once again brought forth to bring back Edward from whatever planet he currently was on.

"Gaah! Every time, you...!"

"Again, it isn't my fault if you're not paying attention to your surroundings."

Ed glared at him and huffed as he looked away from Roy, starting to become unable to wait for the train to move and leave this annoying bastard behind. However, he turned around when Roy decided to talk seriously, as there wasn't much time before the train departed.

"I didn't say everything I wanted to say yesterday because I needed you to reflect on what I had told you, but you're someone who nearly always succeeds when he's personally involved."

"Hah?"

"Do you think you'll be happy having a married life despite travelling and researching Alchemy all around the world with your brother? Do you have the motivation and will for it?"

Edward nodded, the uncertainty of whether Winry would agree was there, but the aspect of having a family waiting for him when he returned, because he definitely always would, was something he now truly craved.

"Then there's no need to go about it in complicated, or cliché ways." Roy, much to Ed's shock, put his hand on Ed's head and rubbed his hair around. "The Edward Elric I know always accomplishes things in his own way and with exceptional, although destructive, results because he doesn't let anything stand in his way. Don't let something like anxiety disturb you, or that's where you'll really fail in what you're trying to do."

Ed stared with wide eyes at Roy, who removed his hand, as he came to realise and understand what he meant, but when he did, the train started moving. He threw his head out as the train slowly advanced and yelled, unwilling to leave the conversation there.

"You're damn right I won't! Don't underestimate me!"

A satisfied grin, the first since he had arrived at Central, spread wide across his face. He didn't expect Roy's words to make the proposal any easier, heck, he expected to still feel urgent needs to run off when facing Winry, but he would definitely do it and prove that nothing could stop him.

"In that case, I expect a report, Elric."

"Yeah? Well expect a report from two Elrics, and the second one won't be Alphonse! I'll achieve something like this in my own way before you even consider proposing to the Lieutenant in a clichéd way, bastard!"

Roy's smirk dropped, only to be replaced with a shocked expression and a slight, but noticeable blush.

"The Lieutenant and I aren't lik-"

"Whatever you say!"

Roy sighed and waved goodbye at Ed, who widely returned it in what felt like an exaggerated manner.

There he went, it was probably the last time they'd meet in a long time, yet Roy couldn't help the pleased and satisfied feeling in his chest. Ed had asked for help, and from what it seems, he had successfully brought it to the best of his abilities, and he was slowly but surely getting overwhelmed with impatience to see where that help would bring the kid.

Ed, on the other hand, quietly sat down on his seat and observed the scenery. Who would have thought Roy's advice would actually help him?

"Man, after what I said, I really hope that report won't be signed from one Elric..."

What he didn't know at that time, was that his proposal, awkward though it was, would be a success. And he'd prove his words right by starting his own family just a few years after that.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note:<strong>

Here it is, my first fanfiction ever written and posted. It was an idea I had in mind for a while, and I really pray that I didn't miss any fanfiction already mentioning this theme. Tried my best to keep Ed and Roy IC, but I deeply apologise if they appear to be OOC.

Hope you guys like it, please leave a review if you do (or even if you don't, I obviously won't mind some criticism since it's my first story)! While this is a one-shot, if you guys are going to leave a review, please tell me if you'd be interested in me posting a prequel, or sequel, or both to this story.


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